Plano East senior Malachi Terry has qualified for the Class 6A state track and field meet in the boys 200-meter dash. Photo by Andy Redmond / C&S Media

By David Wolman

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Plano East has a rich tradition in track and field.

Last weekend, the Panthers added to their lengthy postseason success.

Senior Caitlyn Tran qualified for the Class 6A state meet in the girls 100-meter hurdles and senior Malachi Terry also is bound for Austin in the boys 200-meter dash.

Last week was a big week for Tran in more than one way. On Friday, Tran announced her verbal commitment to compete in track and field for Southern Methodist University. A day later, Tran finished second in the high hurdles at the Region I-6A meet in Arlington with a time of 13.94 seconds.

Meanwhile, Terry ran a 21.1 in last Friday’s preliminaries and improved on that time during Saturday’s final, where he finished in 21.06, good for second place and a state qualification. Earlier in the day, Terry placed fourth in the 100.

Plano East’s girls 4×100 of Lauryn Bowen, Liana Wright, Ce’Nyiah Brown and Simone Heard qualified for the finals and went into the finals ranked sixth. Heard was unable to compete in the final because of a previous commitment for her club volleyball team. Senior Kosi Ngadi stepped in to run in the finals and the Lady Panthers placed third to earn bronze. Plano East was a provisional state qualifier, but their time wasn’t the fastest time of any third-place team in any of the four regions.

Wright also took sixth in the girls 100-meter dash.

Kourtney Houston captured sixth place in the shot put and 10th in the discus.

Maya Shariff placed 10th in the 800 to cap off her senior season.

Naomi Williams took 11th in the long jump.

Plano East’s 4×200 relay of Bowen, Ngadi, Brown and Sophia Sawyerr finished in 11th place.

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